The first eBook bestseller is born: Wallace & Gromit for iPhone scores half a million downloads

A free inaugural Wallace & Gromit digital comic for the iPhone has been downloaded 500,000 times in barely a month and a half. Grab your copy while it’s still free.

Titan Publishing’s inaugural episode of the Wallace & Gromit comic for the iPhone and iPod touch has been downloaded more than half a million times, the company said Tuesday. The digital comic landed on the App Store November 7 and quickly became the #1 free book download, only to be topped recently by Amazon’s Kindle app.

The astounding download count has led some bloggers to dub Wallace & Gromit the “first eBook bestseller.” Following the successful iPhone launch, Titan Publishing has made the comic series available on PSP via Sony’s PlayStation Comics site.

The publisher noted that the free issue has boosted sales of four subsequent episodes that broke into the App Store’s Top 20 category in many markets. Ned Hartley, digital comics editor with Titan Publishing, said the following:

We’ve been amazed at how well our first app has done. Wallace & Gromit is such a great brand, and iPhone users obviously love them as much as we do!

The 5.2MB download contains 59 screens drawn by Jimmy Hansen, colored by John Burns, and lettered by Jimmy Benancourt/Comicraft. The comic application works in landscape and is pretty sleek. It features smooth scrolling between comic panels via the swipe gesture and the navigation screen with panel thumbnails. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support pinch zoom or in-app purchase – each digital issue is a separate download.

Here’s a blurb excerpt from the first episode:

When strange shapes and flashing lights are seen in the night sky, there are only two paranormal investigators that can solve the problem. Sadly they aren’t available, so Wallace and Gromit might as well have a crack at it. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Titan Publishing is offering Wallace & Gromit: The W Files edition free of charge for a limited time in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first ever screening of Wallace & Gromit, so grab yourself a copy (iTunes link) while the deal is still valid. In addition to a free issue, we’ve counted four more Wallace & Gromit episodes at press time, each a $0.99 (£0.59) download: